All
Members present are required to declare, at this point in the
meeting or

as
soon as possible thereafter:

i.any disclosable pecuniary interests and /
or;

ii.other interests arising under the Code of Conduct in
respect of any item(s) of business being considered at this
meeting

NOTES:

·Members are reminded that they must not participate
in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary
interest;

·as well as an interest of the Member, this includes
any interest, of which the Member is aware, that relates to the
Member’s spouse or civil partner (or any person with whom the
Member is living as a spouse or civil partner); and

·Members with a significant personal interest may
participate in the discussion and vote on that matter unless that
interest could be reasonably regarded as prejudicial.

“Given the example of the large gender pay gap in Mole
Valley - the 2017 median for Gross Weekly Pay of those working in
Mole Valley was Male £752.50 and Female £534.20, what
actions will Surrey County Council and other bodies take to
understand the drivers for pay inequity and to improve the
statistics across the county?”

Notes:

1.The deadline for Member’s questions is 12.00pm
four working days before the meeting (7 December
2018).

2.The deadline for public questions is seven days
before the meeting (6 December 2018).

3.The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the
meeting, and no petitions have been received.

Minutes:

A public question was
received from Julia Dickinson. A response was tabled at the meeting
and is attached to the minutes as Annex 1.

The public questioner
asked for further detail to be provided on general pay inequity
throughout Surrey, rather than just focusing on the pay
drivers/actions within Surrey County Council. The Chairman informed
the questioner that the Council could only provide a response to
pay inequity for Surrey County Council employees. It was agreed
that committee officers would advise on where best to seek further
clarification regarding the question.

A Member of the
Committee suggested that the question be submitted at a meeting of
the relevant Local Committee as district and borough members were
represented here and could respond from a district and borough
perspective.

Purpose of the
Report:For the Committee to review the
most recent budget monitoring report to Cabinet and a report from
the Corporate Overview Select Committee Budget Sub-Group regarding
the budget scrutiny sessions undertaken by the Group between
November and December 2018.

The Deputy
Chief Finance Officer introduced the report highlighting that
Cabinet had approved £40 million in year savings in September
2018 in order to get the Council into a sustainable position in
light of heavy pressures on the Special, Educational Needs and
Disabilities (SEND) budget. The £40 million savings were
agreed with the aim of reducing the need to use the Council’s
reserves. It was explained that, as of October 2018, £29
million of management actions had been achieved in order to allow
for savings. Following on, it was noted that £13 million of
Council’s reserves would be needed to support the current
budget, rather than the previously forecasted £21 million.
Members noted that there were still significant pressures on the
Council’s finances, particularly around SEND services,
including SEND transport. The Deputy Chief Finance Officer
summarised further key details relating to the Council’s
finances which were outlined in the finance and budget monitoring
report.

A Member of
the Committee sought clarification on the additional £2.6
million funding from Government which would be allocated for winter
pressures. It was confirmed that if the additional funding was not
used it would be considered as an in year saving for the Council
but that this would need to be approved with Health.

It was
highlighted that Central Government were yet to update the Council
on the provisional finance settlement for 2019/20 and whether or
not Surrey would be included within the business rate retention
pilot for 2019-20. Members requested settlement figures relating to
each of the Surrey District/Boroughs when available. The Deputy
Chief Finance Officer explained that he would be meeting with the
Directors of Finance at the District/Boroughs in due course to
discuss the settlement figures.

4.The Officer confirmed that in September 2018 the
Council was forecasted to use £17 million of reserves to
support the current budget. As of October 2018 this had been
forecast to £13 million.

5.Members were provided with details of the forecasted
savings that were considered to be at risk. This included a high
risk forecasted savings of £3.4 million in SEND and
£2.1 million in SEND transport.

A Member of
the Committee queried what confidence officers had in the
forecasted figures included within the SEND agency projections
graph on page 33 of the agenda. It was explained that the
forecasted figures were based on the best information available to
officers but that £3.6 million was still considered to be at
high risk.

7.A Member of the Committee expressed disappointment
that the County Council motion agreed in spring 2018 to make
savings on SEND transport had so far failed to make any significant
savings. The Committee further discussed the urgent need to reduce
the Council’s spend for out of county placements for
children. It was highlighted that the Children and Education Select
Committee currently had an Out of County Placements Task Group in
place to drive improvements in the service.

The
Chairman drew Members’ attention to the inclusion of the
outcomes of the five ongoing public consultations at the
Committee’s January 2019 meeting. All Select Committee
Chairman were invited to attend this meeting.

Members
noted that the Committee would have two roles regarding
transformation. The first was to scrutinise the implementation of
the projects within its remit and the second was to have an
overview of the whole transformation programme’s financial
benefits and outcomes for residents. The Chairman stated that the
Committee would need to prioritise the most important elements to
focus on.

It was
noted that the Highways and Growth Select Committee sought
agreement to set up a task group to make recommendations on a new
highways maintenance contract.

A Member of
the Committee highlighted that the Committee would consider the
Treasury Management Strategy Statement at its January meeting. It
was confirmed that Members of the Committee would receive the
appropriate training to scrutinise the strategy on the day of the
meeting.

Resolved:

The Committee:

reviewed
each of the Select Committee forward work programmes and its
recommendations tracker.

reviewed
the task and finish group scoping document from the Highways and
Growth Select Committee.